Chief Joby Feccia of Waterbury Police Department reports: On Thursday, October 17, 2013, at approximately 10 a.m., I was dispatched to investigate a collision with an Amtrak passenger train and a person trespassing on the tracks. I requested assistance from the Waterbury Ambulance, Waterbury Fire Department and the Vermont State Police. Upon my arrival, I spoke to the engineer who directed me to the rear of the train. I was told the person hit was still alive and needed medical attention. I met with the conductor who was standing on Union Street near Stowe Street; he directed me to the assistant conductor who was on the railroad tracks with the person hit by the train. I brought my first aid supplies with me to the railroad tracks. I checked several times for a pulse; there was no pulse. I notified dispatch this was a fatality.

The train, Amtrak 55 was southbound from St. Albans to Washington, DC. There were 47 passengers aboard. None of the passengers were injured. The train was delayed 1 hour and 13 minutes during the investigation. The person hit by the train was identified as David Francis Jacobs, age 44, of Waterbury, VT. The engineer saw Jacobs sitting on a piece of wood in between the railroad tracks. When she sounded the whistle and activated emergency braking, Jacobs looked up but did not move from the tracks.